Grain-door for cars.



No. '7|4,705. Patented Dec. 2, |902; D. & J. A. JAMES.

GRAIN DUUR FOR CARS.

(Applcatin led May 28, 1902.)

` new and useful Grain-Door for Cars, of which y UNITED STATES DAVIDJAMES AND JOHN A. JAMES, OF COFFEYVILLE, KANSAS.

GRAIN-DOOR FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 714,705-, datedDecember 2, 1902.

Application iiled May 2B, 1902. Serial No. 109,366. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, DAVID JAMES and JOHN A. JAMES, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Coffeyville, in the county of Montgomery andState of Kansas, have invented a the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to grain-cars, and has for its object theproduction of a movable supplemental door .which may be moved downwardacross the ordinary doorway-opening of the car when grain is to becarried and whichmay be folded upward into the roof of the car whenother freight not requiring the supplementaldoor is carried.

The invention consists in certain novel icatures of the construction,ashereinafter shown and described, and specified in the claims.

In the drawings illustrative of the invention, Figure` 1 is a side viewof a portion of a car with one of thelimproved doors in posi tion in itsdoorway. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same, showing thesupplemental door on one side of the car in positionin its doorway andthe supplemental door of the opposite side folded up in the roof of thecar. Fig. 3 represents an enlarged detail of one side of thesupplemental door, showing the wear-plates and studs for engaging thegrooves in the sides of the door-frame.

The device lmay be applied to any of thevarious constructions offreight-cars, and the framework of such a car is illustrated in thedrawings, 10 representing the floor; l1, the roof; 12, the side walls;13 13a, the side posts of the doorway-opening, of the usual con,.-struction.

The usual sliding door is represented at 14, disposed to travel upontracks 14a.

l The grain-doors are represented at 15 15a and are arranged to slidevertically in guides 16 16, respectivelygupon `the side posts 13 13a, soas to form closures to the lower half of the doorway-openings atopposite sides of the car. These grain-doors are usually constructed ofwood, properly supported and braced and with metal wear-plates at theiredges to prevent the undue wearing of the wooden parts.

ln the present structure the lower portion of each door is provided,respectively, with a smaller door or valve 17 17, hinged by their upperedges in recesses in the lower edges of the grain-doors,` as indicatedat 17b 17C, to provide for the discharge of the grain by gravityopposite the doorway-openings.

When first discharging the cargo from the car, a large share of it atthe center of the car or between the doorway-openings Willflow out bygravity, and to provide for this automatic discharge the smaller doorsor valves 17 17 i* are provided. Each of the valves will be providedwith spaced catches adapted to forcibly engage recesses in the sill ofthe car to lock the grain-doors in their downward positions in closeengagement with the door-sills to prevent the escape of the grain. Thesecatches consist of vertical rods 18, supported revolublyin brackets 19,and with laterallyextended lower ends 18, projecting below the loweredge of the valves and adapted when depressed to enter cavities in thesill of the car and extend beneath plates 20a, partially coveringtherecess, as shown at the left in Fig.` 1.

The brackets 19 are provided with calnplates 21, having one of theircam-surfaces disposed in position to engage the upper end 18h of therods 18 and cause the rods to be carried upward when turned horizontallyin one direction, as shown by dotted .lines at the left of Fig. 1, so asto elevate the end 18 of the rod 18 above the lower line of the valve 1717a, and thus release it from the plate 20 and the recess 20. Thecam-plate 21 also has a reversed cam-surface, which also engages thepart 18b of the rod 18 when turned in the opposite direction, so as toelevate the rod and cause the toe 18a to forcibly engage the plate 20,and thus lock the valve and the door forcibly downward in'engagementwith the car-sill. By this simple means the turning of the rod 18 willcause it to be locked firmly in place and correspondingly lock the doorrmly in engagement with the sill of the car.

The corners of the doors 17 17 a are supplied with wear-plates 22, andeach wear-plate will be provided with a stud 23, extendinginto thechannels formed by the guides 16, and thus maintain the doors inengagement with the guides. At the upper end of each guide is arranged acasting curving inwardly and connected at its upper end to a transverseplate 24, this plate having spaced channels ICO 25 25a, the castingsbeing indicated at 26 26 and disposed to merge at their lower ends intothe channels' formed by the guide 16 and at their upper ends,respectively, into the channels 25 25, so that when the grain-doors areelevated the upper ones of the studs 23 will run over the castings andinto the channels 25 25i.

The channels 25 25a are far enough apart so that the doors will overlapcentrally of the car, as they are too wide to be arranged beneath theroof of the car otherwise.

Each of the castings 26 262L is provided with a guide-rib 26b 26c toserve as a stop to the studs 23 on the upper end of the grain-doors andto properly guide them into the channels 25 25a. f

Each ofthe castings will be provided with a lug 26d at their upperparts, and the lowermost of the studs 23, or the studs on the lower edgeof the doors 17 17a, will project farther from the end of the door thanthe upper studs, so that they will project beyond the entrance to thechannel in the castings and run up over the lugs 26d when the door iselevated to prevent the doors running backward again down the guides andto lock them in their upward positions.

As an additional precaution to prevent the doors running backward downthe guides 16 gravity-catches 27 will be connected to the rafters of theroof 11 and adapted to engage the doors when elevated and obviate anytendency of the doors to be shaken loose from engagement with the lugs26d by any movement of the carin transit.

Means will be provided for elevating the doors, and such a means isshown consisting of cables 28 28, attached to the opposite lower cornersof the doors, as indicated at 28D, and leading upward over pulleys 2929, supported in brackets 30 30a, extending :inward from the car justbeneath the roof 1l and in vertical alinement with the couplings 28".

The cables 28 28a are united centrally or the two cables formed in one,as may be preferred. Usually each cable will be formed separately andending in an eye or ring 31 31a, respectively, as shown. By drawingdownward on the cables by power applied to j the rings 31 31a the doorswill be drawn upward and positioned in the channels 25 25a, as beforedescribed. The cables 28 28a being attached to the outer surfaces of thedoors when they are drawn upward will naturally cause the upper edges ofthe doors to swing inward, and thus follow the castings v 26 26a,so thatthe uppermost of the pins 23 will be operated at the same time by anyforce in use and which will efticiently close the doorway-openings andprevent the leakage of grain or other similar freights from the car.

The proportions may be varied and altered to adapt the device todiiferent sizes and constructions of cars and modified in minorparticulars without departing from the principle of the invention orsacrificing any of its advantages.

Any suitable construction of the doors 17 17a may be employed tocorrespond tothe requirements of different lines of railroad orconstruction of car.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is-M 1. In agrain-car door, the framework of the car having vertical guidewaysadjacent to the doorway-openings, substantially horizontalguidewaysadjacent to the roof of the car, curved plates having extended lugs andt ICO 2. In a grain-car door, the framework of the car having verticalguideways adjacent to the doorway-openings, substantially horizontalguideways adjacent to thereof of the car, curved plates having extendedlugs and connecting the adjacent ends of said guideways,and having ribsmerging into said guideways, the grain-door having short studs at theupper corners engaging said vertical guideways and adapted to be guidedinto said horizontal guideways by said curved plates,longer studs atlthe lower corners of said door adapted to be guided into engagementwith said lugs, and a gravity-catch depending from the roof of the car,and adapted to engage the lower edge of the door when elevated,substantially as described.

3. In a grain-car door,` the framework of the car having opposite pairsof vertical guideways adjacent to the doorway-openings, horizontalguideways spaced apart and disposed in opposite pairs adjacent to theroof of the car, curved plates having extended lugs and connecting theadjacent ends of one opposite pair of said horizontal guideways with thecorresponding opposite pair of said vertical guideways, curved plateshaving extended lugs and connecting the adjacent ends of the other ofsaid opposite pair of horizontal guideways with the other opposite pairof said vertical guideways, the doors having short studs projecting fromtheir upper corners and adapted to be guided respectively into said IIOspaced guideways when elevated, and longer studs projecting from thelower corners of l the doors, and adapted to be guided with theirrespective extended lugs and to be superposed beneath the car-roof,substantially as described. i

4. In a grain-car door, the framework of `the car having verticalguideways adjacent to the doorway-openings, horizontal guidewaysadjacent to the roof of the car, curved plates connecting the adjacentends of said guideways, and having extended lugs and with ribs merginginto said guideways, the

grain-doors having short studs at the upper corners engaging saidguideways, and with longer studs at the lower corners adapted to beguided into engagement with said lugs,

and means operating upon the outer surface of the door whereby itmay beelevated, substantially as described.

5. In 'a grain-car door, the framework of j the car having verticalguideways adjacent to the doorway-openings, horizontal guidewaysadjacent to the roof of the car, curved plates having extended lugs andconnecting the adjacent ends of said guideways and having ribs merginginto said guideways, the

grain-door having short studs at the upper corners engaging saidguideways,longer studs at the lower corners adapted to be guided intoengagement with said lugs, guide-p ulleys supp scribed.

6. In agrain-car door, the framework of the car having verticalguideways adjacent to the doorway-openings, horizontal guidewaysadjacent to the roof of the car, means for connecting the adjacent endsof said guideways, lugs upon said connecting means, the grain-door,means carried by said door for causing it to be guided in saidguideways, and into engagement with said lugs when elevated,guide-pulleys supported above said doorway-openings, draft-cablesconnected to the outer side of said door at or near the bottorn andengaging said guide-pulleys, and a coupling-cable connecting the freeends of said draftvcables, substantially as described.

7. In a grain-car door, the framework of the car having verticalguideways adjacent to the doorway-openings, means carried by said'doorfor engaging said guideways, a valve lnovably engaging a recess in thelower part of said door, vertically-disposed rods supported upon saidvalve and with their ends extended laterally in opposite directions,reeesses in the sill ofthe car adapted to receive said lowerlaterally-extended ends, a cam-plate having camsurfaces on oppositesides of said rods and adapted to engage said upper laterally-extendedends alternately, whereby when said rod is rotated in one direction itwill be elevated above the lower line of the valve and the valvereleased, and when rotated in the opposite direction the valve will belocked into engagement with the sill of the car, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have heretoaffixed oursignatures in the presence of two witnesses.

DAVID JAMES. JOI-IN A. JAMES.

Witnesses:

T. M. RoBERns, GEO. S. CoLBY.

